Allow all EU Steam users to purchase products in the UK Steam Store.

As part of the Directive 97/7/EC: "Whereas the free movement of goods and services affects not only the business sector but also private individuals; whereas it means that consumers should be able to have access to the goods and services of another Member State on the same terms as the population of that State;", we have the same right to buy and have access to all goods, merchandise and services as any of citizens of any EU country. Unfortunately, the Steam Store effectively takes that right away from us.

Letter to

European Commission

Head of Consumer Liaison UnitEuropean Commission

I appeal to you to examine the practices of the Steam Store online shop available at http://www.steampowered.com. It is run by Valve Corporation, with headquarters in the United States of America and divisions around the world, including the United Kingdom. The online store is a part of the Steam platform used for digital distribution of applications (mostly games), it enforces Digital Rights Management (DRM) through the use of online account authentication and license validation and facilitates communication between players around the world. For many years, this shop sells computer games (software) in the European market, and many other parts of the world.

At the outset I would like to point out that this is a great store with friendly customer service. Despite a few annoying flaws presented later in the following letter, the services it provides have very high standards and have no equal in this particular field.

The case, which I’m presenting in this letter is quite simple, probably the majority of European Union’s citizens who are interested in this topic know this: The residents of the European Union are entitled to make purchases in stores (both mail order and Internet etc.), use services and have access to all goods throughout the European Union.

So, as part of the Directive 97/7/EC: "Whereas the free movement of goods and services affects not only the business sector but also private individuals; whereas it means that consumers should be able to have access to the goods and services of another Member State on the same terms as the population of that State;", we have the same right to buy and have access to all goods, merchandise and services as any of citizens of any EU country. Unfortunately, the Steam Store effectively takes that right away from us.

For example, at the moment I - as a citizen of Poland or for example France, Greece, Germany or any other member country - cannot buy products in the Steam Store in the shop reserved for residents of the United Kingdom (http://www.steampowered.com/?cc=uk) which is against the European Union’s directive. The reason I want to use the British Steam Store shop, is my desire to buy products not available at the Polish Steam store (http://store.steampowered.com/?cc=pl) and the ability to purchase products in pound sterling.

Therefore it is my hope you take this issue under review and if you come to the same conclusions to enforce EEA and EU legislation on their business practices. I thank you for taking the time to read this letter and addressing the concerns and rights of EU citizens.